Self-locking gutter hanger bracket



March 24, 1964 P. STEEG SELF-LOCKING GUTTER HANGER BRACKET Filed July 18. 1961 FIG. 2

INVENTOR. PAUL STEEG FIG. 4

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,126,181 SELF-LOCKING GUTTER HANGER BRACKET Paul Steeg, 835 Broad, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Filed July 18, 1961, Ser. No. 124,897 3 Claims. (Cl. 24848.2)

This invention relates to an improved hanger bracket for eave troughs or gutters, and more particularly is directed to a self-locking hanger bracket.

Prior conventional hanger brackets for eave troughs or gutters have been constructed to fit over or under the front and rear edges of the trough, and the exposed portions of the bracket are unsightly and require painting to blend in with the paint on the gutter. It has been proposed to insert the front end of the bracket within the front edge of the gutters, but this sacrifices rigidity, and in some cases requires driving -a spike through the front of the gutter and into or through the bracket, and into the adjacent facia board of the building.

Other prior constructions of gutter hangers have the disadvantages of requiring fastening both front and rear ends of the bracket to the gutter in place, and of requiring different bracket designs for gutters hung from the roof than for gutters attached to the facia board.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved self-locking hanger bracket which when mounted on the gutter is completely unexposed, and which can be quickly applied in position on the gutter in place.

Another object is to provide an improved hanger bracket which braces the gutter between its front and rear edges, and is adapted selectively to be hung from the roof or spiked to the facia board.

A further object is to provide an improved hanger bracket which is adapted to splice two gutter sections together while at the same time performing its function as a hanger bracket for the connected sections.

These and other objects which will become apparent from the following description are acomplished by the improvements comprising the present invention, preferred embodiments of which are disclosed herein by way of example. Various modifications and changes in details of construction are comprehended within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the self-locking hanger bracket hung from a roof and one manner of installing the bracket in a gutter shown in section, and the manner of the securement of both the bracket and gutter to a building shown in phantom.

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation of the self-locking hanger bracket in a gutter with a section of the back wall of the gutter partly broken away.

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the self-locking hanger bracket.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of a self-locking hanger bracket and shows an alternate manner of installing the bracket in a gutter and splicing two gutter sections together.

FIG. 5 is a rear elevation of the embodiment of FIG. 4 with the rear walls of the spliced lengths of gutter shown partly broken away.

The self-locking hanger bracket is shown fitting between and abutting the front and back walls 12 and 14 of a gutter 16. The gutter illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4 is of the character known as the OG-type gutter design and is provided with an overhanging lip 18 which projects inwardly from the front wall 12 and which has a foldedunder return flange 18. Obviously, the hanger bracket of the invention is not limited to this particular character of gutter but is equally applicable to all designs of gutter which are fabricated with an inwardly projecting overhanging lip. The hanger bracket 10 comprises duo-side- 3,126,181 Patented Mar. 24, 1964 ice Wall members 20 and 22, a bridging portion 24 and a notch 26 forming an inwardly projecting tongue 27 adapted to interlock with the return flange 18 of the overhanging lip 18.

The hanger bracket 10 is preferably stamped from a single piece of sheet metal and bent into the configuration illustrated in the drawings. The resultant assembly is light in weight, strong and economical to fabricate. In essence it has the formation of a cross section of an inverted U.

The lower surfaces of the duo-sidewall members 20 and 22, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 4, extend rearwardly across the width of the gutter and then curve downwardly into an enlarged baselike portion. It is from this latter portion that the flanges or lateral wings 28 extend at right angles to the duo-sidewall members for face to face abutment with the interior surface of back wall 14. In each flange or wing a preferably slotted hole 30 is provided through which a nail 32 can be driven to secure the gutter to the facia of a building, which is shown in phantom outline in FIG. 1.

The bridging portion 24 is substantially horizontal and presents a flat surface between the duo-sidewall members. Portion 24 extends rearwardly from the front wall of a gutter and ends in a projecting tab 34, which tab is adapted to fold over the exterior rear surface of back wall 14 of the gutter. The bridging portion is preferably provided with raised clips 36 under which the lower looped end 38 of a hanger strap 40 may be slid laterally in supporting relation. The strap 40 may be secured to a roof preferably prior to installation of the roof shingles; however, it would be possible to install it after shingle installation with somewhat more difliculty. The raised clips 36 are stretched during the bending process so as to extend above the normal surface plane of the bridging portion. Although not shown, if desired, the hanger strap could be secured to the bridging portion in any suitable manner without the provision of raised clips.

The notch 26 is formed in the bridging portion 24 and extends downwardly into the duo-sidewall members 29 and 22. The inwardly projecting tongue 27 of the notch is designed to hook under the return flange 18" of the front wall 12 of a gutter in an interlocking relation.

The self-locking hanger bracket 10 is installed in a gutter by tilting the rear end upwardly to permit hooking the projection 27 under the lip flange 18 and then moving the bracket into the horizontal position shown in the drawings whereby the flanges or lateral wings. 28 firmly abut the rear or back wall 14 of the gutter and the projecting tab 34 is bent downwardly over the exterior surface of the back wall 14. The hanger bracket thus forms a rigid brace between the front and rear walls of the gutter. The nails 32 are driven through the slotted holes 30 of the lateral wings or flanges 28 and the back wall 14 into the facia board 42 shown in phantom outline in FIG. 1. A predetermined length of hanger strap may be slid under the raised clips 36, doubled and formed into -a loop and attached at their extremities to a building roof. In this type of installation no portion of the hanger bracket shows on the outside face of the gutter.

If it is deemed desirable, however, a spike 44 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 may be driven through the outside or front wall 12 of the gutter and within the inverted U cross section of the hanger bracket and out through the back wall 14 and the tab 34 into a facia board. Inasmuch as the hanger bracket forms a rigid brace between the front and back walls of the gutter, the gutter front Wall will not be caved in or distorted. The lateral wings will rigidly abut the interior back surface in bracing relation even though no nails are inserted through the slotted holes of the wings.

The self-locking hanger bracket 10 not only serves to support a gutter at different points along its length, but also serves to support and reinforce a splice where one length of gutter has been joined with another length in overlapping relation. The combination of the tab and lateral wings along with the interlocking notch serves to provide a rigid support for such splice and severely restricts any tendency of the gutter to bend at this point. The wings provide laterally spaced points of support to prevent sagging at the spliced joint.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate two gutter lengths 16 and 16' with the front and back walls 12 and 14' of one length fitting within and overlapping the front and back walls 12 and 14 of another length. The projection 27 interlockingly supports both overlapping front walls of the gutter lengths. If the spike installation is used, the spike passes through both front walls, both rear walls and the tab into a facia board.

Although not specifically illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, it is to be understood that the type of installation shown therein is equally applicable to a splice arrangement as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The overlap of one length of gutter would extend sufiic-iently so that the nails 32 would pass through each slotted hole and each back wall of the gutter lengths into facia board 42. Also, although not specifically illustrated, the installation of FIGS. 1-3 could be used without the hanger strap whereby the nails 32 would be the only means of securement to the facia board. Moreover, both forms of the bracket can be used with a hanger strap riveted thereto, if desired.

I claim:

1. A self-locking hanger bracket for a gutter having front and back walls with an overhanging lip projecting inwardly from said front wall and terminating in a foldedunder return flange, comprising duo-sidewall members for extending between and abutting said walls, a bridging portion between said members, and a notch within said bridg- 4 ing portion and said duo-sidewall members forming an inwardly projecting tongue adapted to interlock under said return flange by tilting the rear end of the bracket upwardly.

2. A self-locking hanger bracket for a gutter having front and back walls with an overhanging lip projecting inwardly from said front wall and terminating in a foldedunder return flange, comprising duo-sidewall members for extending between and abutting said walls, a bridging portion between said members, a notch within said bridging portion forming an inwardly projecting tongue adapted to interlock under said return flange by tilting the rear end of the bracket upwardly, means extending laterally from said sidewall members adapted to abut said back wall when the bracket is returned to horizontal position, and means extending rearwardly from said bridging portion for folding over said back wall.

3. A hanger bracket and splice support for overlapping lengths of gutters having front and back walls with overhanging lips projecting inwardly from said front walls and terminating in folded-under return flanges, comprising a longitudinal member extending across said gutter and abutting said front and back walls, wing means extending at right angles from said longitudinal member and adapted to abut said back walls, notch means on said longitudinal member forming an inwardly projecting tongue adapted to interlockingly engage at least one of said return flanges and support the overhanging lips of said front walls, and a tab extending rearwardly from said member and adapted to fold over the back walls of said gutter lengths.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A SELF-LOCKING HANGER BRACKET FOR A GUTTER HAVING FRONT AND BACK WALLS WITH AN OVERHANGING LIP PROJECTING INWARDLY FROM SAID FRONT WALL AND TERMINATING IN A FOLDEDUNDER RETURN FLANGE, COMPRISING DUO-SIDEWALL MEMBERS FOR EXTENDING BETWEEN AND ABUTTING SAID WALLS, A BRIDGING PORTION BETWEEN SAID MEMBERS, AND A NOTCH WITHIN SAID BRIDGING PORTION AND SAID DUO-SIDEWALL MEMBERS FORMING AN INWARDLY PROJECTING TONGUE ADAPTED TO INTERLOCK UNDER SAID RETURN FLANGE BY TILTING THE REAR END OF THE BARCKET UPWARDLY. 